Emery hails Neymar after stunning Celtic win

Celtic took an early lead against Paris Saint-Germain, but Neymar scored twice as the French giants roared back to win 7-1.

Published

22 November 2017

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Unai Emery singled out Neymar for praise after the Brazilian's brace helped the French side to a scintillating 7-1 win over Celtic in the Champions League on Wednesday.

PSG fell behind after just 56 seconds to Moussa Dembele's shock goal for the Scottish side, but Emery's star-studded outfit bounced back in magnificent style to race into a 4-1 half-time lead.

Neymar scored the first two goals before Cavani's 150th for the club and a fourth from Kylian Mbappe effectively ended the game as a contest.

PSG eased up for most of the second half before late goals from Marco Verratti, Cavani and Dani Alves added a deserved gloss to the scoreline, which means that they have now scored more goals in a Champions League group stage than any other club in the competition's history.

While there was scarcely a PSG player that did not contribute positively to such a memorable result, Emery was keen to highlight the world's most expensive footballer after the game for his unique contribution.

He said: "He's extraordinary. He wants to play the games, to be present on the pitch. He makes everyone benefit from his talent.

"We are happy. If we could remove the Celtic goal, it would be better.

"There are still some details to improve, such as the loss of the ball, the position of the players in the recovery, choosing when to take the space, to have possession at this or that moment, but I think that the team has made very good things."

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers chose to praise the quality of PSG's players after the game rather than admonish his own, but did concede that his side had made it a little too easy for the hosts on a number of occasions.

"Sometimes you just have to take your hat off in terms of the quality," he told BT Sport. "It's a top team with top players. Our players gave absolutely everything, they ran themselves into the ground.

"They fought, we got a great start to the game, we showed confidence in the game, but we made mistakes that let them back into it.

"I was proud of the players in terms of what they put into the game but disappointed with the goals we conceded."